Midsummer Night's Dream

Midsummer Night’s Dream
Name:
Institution
Introduction
A midsummer night’s dream is Shakespeare’s comedy play that was written around the 1590s A.D. The general setting of the play is based on the lifestyle of the royal families as was in those defined years. It is on the wedding arrangement of the duke of Athens; Theseus and the queen of Amazons; Hippolyta. Also in the play are other characters; there is Egeus who is Theseus friend, and he forces his daughter, Hermia to marry Demetrius whom she does not love. She is in love with Lysander whom her father views as an outcast thus the two lovers decide to elope. However, Demetrius loves her but another woman, Helena (Nostbakken & Shakespeare, 2003), again loves him. The play is made better by a parallel storyline of fairies whose lives are intertwined with the main play. The fairies also have a kingdom ruled by Oberon as the king and Titania as his queen. However, this paper critically examines the play as well as the different themes as evident among the characters in the play from a broad perspective.
Chaos and Order
The theme of chaos and disorder perfectly comes out in various scenes of the play. First, the order of the family unit is disrupted when Hermia goes against her father’s; Egeus’ will marry Demetrius. Society demands daughters to adhere to their father’s will, and this disobedience threatens their relationship. Egeus requests the king; Theseus to grant him the authority to kill her or send her to nunnery for eternal seclusion from the society (Nostbakken & Shakespeare, 2003). The other instance of disorder is when Oberon; the fairies king instructs Puck to administer a love potion dose to Demetrius so that he can love Helena, whom he despises despite the fact that she is mad in-love with him. Puck accidentally administers the portion to Lysander, who now falls in love with Helena instead. Lysander’s girlfriend confronts Helena with accusations that she has bewitched his man. An initiative to rectify the problem sees to it that Demetrius is also administered with a similar love portion.
Power and Authority
Power and authority as a theme has been extensively used in the play. King Theseus is one person with both. The society allows him to grant guidance when it comes to dispute as can clearly b...